A technique using a quadrupole mass spectrometer has been developed for continuous measurement of partial pressures of physiological blood gases. The depletion phenomenon is eliminated with a new sampling cannula equipped with a polyethylene membrane for velocities greater than 1 cm per second. The importance of this development resides in the fact that this phenomenon, due to a sampling rate around the cannula in excess of the replacement by the medium of the molecules withdrawn, leads to an under-estimation of the real partial pressure which increases as the blood velocity falls. With the new cannula, accurate measurements can now be made in both arteries and veins; moreover, continuous observation of physiological phenomena can be carried out with a time constant of under 1 minute because of the thinness of the membrane.